Immortal No More
by Dee007
Summary: ONE SHOT: Squall is asked to go on a mission, but when he asks a certain Martial Artist to take his place, the consequences prove to be life shattering. WARNING: Character Death :


Hello, and welcome to my first story. I don't even know where it came from to tell you the truth... It's actually not my usual style, but it kind of just happened one night... It's not the greatest story ever written by any means, but I tried. :)

Let's see.. Oh right, DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the lovely characters used in this story. They belong to the wonderful Final Fantasy creators and Square Soft and all those people... Lucky ducks.. And also, the song belongs to LIFEHOUSE. :)

Um, yeah.. Enjoy!

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**Immortal No More.**

A pair of tired grey eyes stared at the two pieces of metal that were currently rested in the palm of his hand. They briefly glanced out the window of the moving vehicle, but quickly looked back down at the objects in his hand. His fingers slowly slid over the writing and onto the dirty chain that they were connected to. He breathed deeply as a sigh escaped his lips.

Two days ago, he wouldn't have been holding the necklace in his hand, nor would he be on his way to the small fishing village just outside the large military academy known as Balamb Garden. A lot can happen in the span of two days, and a lot had happened indeed...

_...It had started out as any other day. The commander that was currently sitting in the vehical on his way to the small fishing village had been sitting at his desk, silently cursing whoever assigned him as the person to lead the cadets, when there was a knock on his door._

_"Come in." He said flatly. The door opened slowly and a thin woman poked her head inside. Her raven coloured hair danced around her shoulders as she quietly stepped into the office._

_"Almost done Squall?" The commander looked up, and was forced to smile in her presence._

_"I'll never be done, so yeah." Squall Leonhart smiled to his girlfriend of two years, Rinoa Heartly. He pushed his chair back to stand, and as he did, Rinoa wrapped her arms around the brunette's torso._

_"What do you say we head to Timber for the weekend?"_

_"I would-"_

_"Squall Leonhart and Selphie Tilmit to the Headmaster's office immediately." Squall closed his eyes as his name was announced over the PA system. Rinoa pouted and hugged him tighter. She knew that he would be going on a mission, which meant no vacation for them. Squall, along with Rinoa and others was a part of the Garden's elite military service known as SeeD. They would go on missions to ensure that Gaia stayed peaceful. Their initial purpose was to fight sorceresses, and two years ago Squall, Rinoa and four others had fought against one of the world's deadliest sorceresses, Ultimicia and defeated her. Since then, they were used to keep order and peace around Gaia._

_"I'm sorry. I'll see if I can pawn it off on Zell or something okay?" Rinoa nodded and kissed his briefly before watching him leave the office._

_Squall was brought back to the present as the vehical he was travelling in hit a large bump, causing him to drop the necklace that had been dangling from his fingers. He reached down to retrieve it, and soon became lost in the past once again._

_"Sir, do I really have to go on this one? Rinoa and I have been trying to take a weekend to go see her father in Timber." Squall tried as he spoke to the Headmaster of the Garden, Cid Kramer. The 19-year-old glanced at the other SeeD that was currently standing beside him, Selphie Tilmit. The petite brunette smiled at him, then looked to Cid._

_"C'mon Ciddy, Squall never gets a break." She grinned. Cid removed his glasses and sighed._

_"Fine, I would rather if you went... But Zell has been showing signs of settling down, so I'll page him. Selphie, you'll be leaving at 0600 hours." Cid explained. Selphie grinned as she saluted and left the office._

_"Zell and Selphie will be fine. It's just an information gathering mission." Squall said with a nod. Cid waved him off and Squall left the office. On his way to his dorm, he nearly bumped into Zell Dincht, an energetic martial artist that would take his place on the mission that would change everyone's life around him._

_"Zell, Cid's going to page-"_

_"Already did. I'm on my way up there now. You need a break anyway man, plus I'm bored." Zell said with a grin._

_"Thanks... I know you were going to be heading to Balamb this weekend..."_

_"Don't worry about it. I can go to Balamb whenever. Go, have some fun for once." Zell said with a wave. Squall smirked to himself and walked toward his dorm._

"Almost there sir." The voice of the driver startled Squall back to the present. He muttered a 'Thank you' and looked out the window of the town they were pulling in to. He swallowed slowly as they neared their destination. Squall found himself not wanting to relive the next memory, but was forced to re-witness it as his mind took him back to the early hours of yesterday.

_The ringing of his cell phone woke him. He heard Rinoa moan beside him as he reached over her to retrieve the small device._

_"Leonhart." He said tiredly._

_"Squall, you need to come back to Garden." It was his former instructor and fellow SeeD, Quistis Trepe._

_"Quistis, it's 3 am.."_

_"Selphie and Zell were just rushed back to Garden. Their in critical condition." The sentence entered Squall's ear like a knife, and he was instantly awake._

_"What happened?" The tone of his voice caused Rinoa to sit up and cock her head to the side in curiosity._

_"We don't know... Squall they may not make it."_

_"We're on our way." Squall hung up the phone and turned to Rinoa who was already getting out of the bed to gather their belongings._

_Squall pushed the doors of the infirmary open and stopped when he saw the ashen faces of his two colleagues, Quistis and Selphie's boyfriend, Sharpshooter Irvine Kinneas._

_"How are they?" Rinoa asked. Quistis shook her head in response._

_"Do we know what happened?" Squall asked._

_"Their train was attacked. There must have been a lot of 'em 'cause both Selphie and Zell are in bad shape... and I mean, in training, even if there are ten guys, none of them can even touch Zell." Irvine explained._

_"They managed to fight long enough to get away... We got a transmission from Zell. He carried Selphie as far away from the scene as he could before he collapsed. It seems that Selphie took a blow to the head, but other than that, Zell took most of the abuse."_

_"How bad..." Rinoa asked as she tried not to cry._

_"Well, like I said... Selphie took a hit to the head, and she has a couple of other injuries but the Doc's just worried about her head... Uh, Zell..." Irvine's voice trailed off._

_"They beat him real bad... We don't know the extent of his injuries... just that it's bad... Dr. K was in tears when she was telling the nurses what to do." Squall stared at the Galbadian. He was supposed to go on that mission, it was him who was supposed to be fighting for his life in the infirmary, not Zell._

_"I..."_

_"Ahem." They all turned to see Doctor Kodwaski standing in the waiting area, her face pale and her eyes tired. Everyone stood._

_"Um.. Selphie, she's still unconscious, but um.. her CAT scans look good... There's no damage to her brain, so she should wake up soon. She has a broken wrist, but that will heal quickly..." The doctor took a deep breath before continuing._

_"Zell...He... Zell isn't going to make it." She said with teary eyes._

_"His injuries are severe. He has mass amounts of internal bleeding that we can't control. Magic isn't helping in the least and there isn't anything we can do for him." The group stared at her in shock._

_"What? Zell can't die. He's too stubborn to die." Quistis said as she shook her head. Her normally strong presence was breaking rapidly._

_"What do you mean there's nothing you can do? Zell's been through everything, and he manages to get out of it. Why is this different?" Squall asked, his eyes now wide._

_"Squall it's too late... he only has a few moments. He is conscious, and he's not in any pain.. so if you would like to say goodbye.." The five SeeD stared at her in shock._

_"You mean there's nothing...?"_

_"We didn't get to him in time. The amount of damage done inside of him is unrepairable. I wish to Hyne there was something that I could do, but in all honesty, there isn't."_

_"I can't go in there..." Quistis said with a shake of her head._

_"We have to. C'mon." Irvine carefully took Quistis by the arm and led her toward the room. Squall watched as they went in and looked at Rinoa. Tears streamed down her pale face and she took his hand. He swallowed slowly and forced himself to walk forward._

"We're here sir." Squall's eyes snapped open. He felt his eyes starting to sting and he quickly shook his head in order to rid of the unwanted tears. His eyes fell on the small house that was occupied by his best friend's mother, well, adoptive mother. He could see her working on her garden and he swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked down at the necklace once again and was brought back to the past.

_It wasn't Zell who was lying on that gurney. Zell was lively, and didn't know how to sit still. Zell was tanned and full of life. This person was barely breathing and was fighting to keep his icy blue eyes open. The white sheets on the bed were stained red as the crimson liquid still poured from wounds most likely caused by a blade. His face was covered in small cuts and bruises. Squall would have convinced himself that it wasn't Zell Dincht, had it not been for the incredible tribal tattoo that lined the martial artist's left cheek bone._

_"G-guys?" Zell's usually powerful voice was weak and pitiful as he fought to stay awake in order to say his goodbye._

_"Hey buddy." Irvine said as he approached the bed._

_"S-Selphie?"_

_"She's going to be fine." Quistis soothed._

_"I-I'm... n-not... D-doc says I-I'm not g-gonna... make it.." Zell wheezed. The statement caused Rinoa to let out a sob and burry her face in Squall's torso._

_"Shit Zell, this should be me." Squall muttered._

_"A-aren't y-you supposed t-to be in T-tim-Timber?" Zell said with a quick grin. Squall laughed, but not joyfully. He laughed at the situation, the irony and because he was slowly falling apart.._

_"D-Don't.. b-beat yourself.. up... m-man.. Sh-shit.. ha-happens... J-just... Tell M-Ma... th-that I... l-love her.. a-and I'll s-say h-hi to grandpa and... P-pa... wh-when I see... 'em..." Zell's words started to fade as he started to lose his battle to stay alive. His gloved hand slowly reached up to his neck, and with an inspiring amount of strength, he ripped the chain that hung around his neck off, and held it up to Squall. The commander slowly wrapped his hand around Zell's clenched fist._

_"G-give... Th-this... to Ma..." He choked. Zell could only stare at the dying man beside him as his grip on the martial artist's fist tightened._

_"B...Been an h-honour..W-will... Miss...you...Boo...yah." He whispered before his icy blue eyes closed. Quistis collapsed into tears, and Irvine struggled to hold her. Rinoa sunk to her knees and Squall kept his hand tightly wrapped around his best friend's clenched fist._

"I can't do this." Squall breathed to himself as he stared at the older woman standing up from her gardening. She turned and noticed the car across from her house. Instantly recognizing the Garden symbol on the side of the car, the older woman grinned and waved. Squall let out a curse as he was forced to open the door of the car. He stepped out, gripping the Dog Tags in his palm.

"Squall! Oh what a lovely surprise! I was expecting Zell, but you know it's always a pleasure when you stop by!" Mrs. Dincht laughed as Squall crossed the road and made his way into her driveway. She was so full of joy, that it made this task even more difficult to do. She pulled the young commander into a hug, knowing that she wouldn't receive one back. When his hands touched her back however, she knew that something was wrong. She quickly pulled away and looked into his grey eyes.

"Squall..." She breathed. Squall didn't trust himself to talk, so instead he held out his hand and dropped the necklace into hers.

"Oh Hyne no..." She whispered. Her fingers traced over her son's name and she shook her head.

"No. Squall, I can't lose him..." She whispered as tears rolled down her plump cheeks. The other Dog Tag had been her husband's, Zell's adoptive father. She had given it to Zell after her was killed in the line of duty.

"Oh my baby... No..." She let out a sob, and Squall quickly reached out as she collapsed to her knees. She wrapped her arms around Squall's neck and sobbed.

As he held the crying woman, Squall found himself struggling to control his own emotions. For years he was able to hide any feelings that he may have had toward the people that called themselves his friends. Meeting Rinoa of course changed him. He found himself appreciating the people around him, but he still couldn't help but remember all the times he had been rude to Zell in the past. He loved Zell, just as much as he loved his other friends. He was his friend, his comrade, his brother and he rarely let him know how appreciated he was.

Zell was no idiot, despite what many people believed. After the Sorceress War, hundreds of cadets registered as gunblade specialists, so that they could be like 'The Hero Squall', but no one wanted to take up the Martial Arts. Zell lasted just about to the end with Squall during the final battle with Ultimicia. In fact, the only reason Squall outlasted him was the fact that the blond had used his last cure on the commander to allow him to continue his fight. Not many people knew this, and as Squall thought of it, he had never thanked Zell for it.

He didn't thank Zell for a lot of things. In fact, Squall usually scolded Zell for his overly energetic attitude. It was the one thing about the younger man that irritated Squall, but at the moment, he would give anything to be pestered by the brawler.

But he was gone.

It was 3:07 am when Squall returned to Garden. He felt like screaming, waking up the entire Garden, but of course he did no such thing. Instead, he quietly punched in the code for Zell's dorm and stepped inside. The room was surprisingly clean, with books stacked on the book shelves, a punching bag in the corner and several pictures hung upon the grey walls. Squall stopped and stared at the pictures that were hung.

The first was of Zell when he was a young boy, probably 13 or 14 years old. He was dressed in his Garden uniform. He looked youthful, disciplined and confident. Squall smiled sadly as he moved onto the next picture.

The second picture was of Zell and Selphie. Squall would never mention this to anyone, but he remembered during their first mission as SeeD that he watched Selphie and Zell interact with one another, and he couldn't believe the chemistry that flowed between them. Even he, the emotionless drone that he was had seen it. In the picture they were both smiling brightly as they sat on Balamb's dock with their feet dangling over the edge.

The last picture that Squall looked at was of the entire group. The 'Orphanage Gang' as they so fondly called themselves. Everyone, including Squall was smiling in this one. It had been taken the night of the celebration ball for the end of the Sorceress War. Squall sighed and sunk down onto his friend's couch and wrapped his hands around the back of his neck.

"Squall?" He looked up quickly to see Rinoa standing in the door frame. She quietly made her way over to him and slowly sat beside him. The young sorceress smiled sadly at her boyfriend and place a hand on his knee.

"How did it go?" Squall shook his head and sighed.

"Her only son was killed. How do you think it went?" Squall instantly regretted his tone of voice, but Rinoa smiled at him.

"Sorry."

"Don't be... Irvine's still with Selphie. The doctor expects her to wake up tomorrow. Quistis is pretty upset, I don't think I've ever seen her cry until now. How are you doing?" The question caused Squall to bite his lip and look toward Rinoa with exhausted eyes.

"I'm.. not fine." Squall breathed. Rinoa cocked her head to the side and waited for him to continue.

"When I told his mother, I couldn't help but remember all the times I doubted Zell's abilities, all the times I put him down... Truth was, without him we probably wouldn't even be here right now. He was the one who knew everything about that damn mechanical spider that chased us on our field exam, he was the one who got us out in the District Prison despite being beaten, and he was the one that should have finished Ultimicia but sacrificed himself because he believed that it was my destiny." Squall said with a shake of his head.

"Baby, Zell was smart. He knew that you cared for him, just like we all did and still do." Rinoa whispered. Squall shook his head and stood up. Rinoa watched as he paced in front of her, his emotions starting to rise to the surface.

"What are we even doing? He was 19 Rinoa! 19 years old, and he like all of us was a trained assassin. Did you see how he wasn't afraid to die? That's drilled into us at the age of 13. Die with honour. What is that? Honour? Getting ambushed on a train? How is that honourable?" Rinoa's heart broke as Squall struggled to control himself. Tears brimmed her chocolate eyes as she watched him fall apart.

"I used to think he was immortal. He could take anything that was thrown at him. He was stronger than I'll ever be. He fought with his body. He didn't _need_weapons. He could take a hit and not even be phased..." Squall said as he ran a hand through his messy brown hair. Rinoa's tears spilled over her cheeks as she listened to him. He was hurting, and for the first time in his life, he was allowing someone to listen.

"Damnit... He- He was my best friend." Squall whispered as he stopped pacing. He stared at Rinoa with tortured eyes, that began to fill with water. Rinoa instantly stood and wrapped her arms around him. Squall clutched her tightly as he finally allowed the tears to slip down his cheeks.

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And that's it. I love Zell. He was definitely my favorite in the game. I didn't want to kill him.. but it just seemed to fit.. Anyway, Review if you'd like! :)

Until next time!

Dee x0x


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